Hockey is a well known winter sport wherein ice skaters use a stick to carry a puck along ice and to shoot the puck into a net. A number of different types of shots are well known to hockey players. Such shots include the wrist shot, the snap shot, the slap shot and the backhand shot. Each of the shots is more appropriate than the others in certain types of game situations. The choice of a particular shot is made in order to propel the puck toward the net as fast as possible considering the proximity of opposing players and the position and dexterity of the shooting player. The purpose of propelling a puck with as much speed as possible is that the puck must get past the goalie before he has time to react and stop the puck from entering the net.
Present hockey sticks have straight shafts and generally slightly curved blades. The curvature of the blade is helpful for carrying a puck down the ice and for lifting the puck off the ice as a result of a shooting movement. In general, sticks are made from wood, although some have aluminum shafts. Bigger and stronger hockey players have the power to bend the shaft of a hockey stick during shooting, especially a slap shot. As the shaft bends away from the puck, less impact force than might otherwise be possible is applied to the puck. Consequently, the puck moves at a somewhat slower speed and has a somewhat lower chance of beating or getting by a goalie. In addition, straight-shafted sticks require a player to hold the stick in a somewhat awkward position while shooting. In spite of these problems, hockey sticks have not been altered significantly for decades.